The Tale of the Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady
by Tefnut Talvi
Summary: The Blue Spirit and Painted Lady weren’t always spirits they were once as human as you and I. They lived a life of love, betrayal and a twisted plot of evil. This is their tale…


**Summary: **The Blue Spirit and Painted Lady weren't always spirits; they were once as human as you and I. They lived a life of love, betrayal and a twisted plot of evil. This is their tale…

**AN: It's a story, like if someone was reading it in a book, the parts with the Blue Spirit and the Painted Lady. **

**Dedicated to Ogro, for helping me beta this. You rock!!! **

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"_Once, there was a man. He was the greatest thief of his time, and no one could surpass him in his skills. No one knew his name; all they knew was that he traveled through the shadows and wherever he struck, there was a blue ogre mask in his place. Many didn't believe that he existed. Thus he became known as the Blue Spirit…"_

Zuko balanced on the tree branch above, watching as the man below him walked closer to the tree. When Zuko first saw him he didn't plan on robbing him, but some things just had to be done. He quietly waited in the shadows until he saw his chance to strike. He leapt down and landed directly behind the man. Before the man could bring out his swords Zuko crouched down and grabbed his hands and twisted it away from his body, disarming him. He sent his elbow into the man's stomach and watched as he went flying into a tree. As the man looked up, the last thing he saw before losing consciousness was a man reaching towards him with a blue mask covering his face. Zuko grabbed a pouch that was attached to the man's belt. He then turned and ran though the forest.

Zuko jumped from rooftop to rooftop until he came to the alley where he saw the man for the first time. He looked down and saw that the young woman was still there against the wall crying. He was patrolling when he heard her cries for help; the man had her against the wall with one of his swords pressed against her throat. He watched as he grabbed her money and pushed her head first into the wall and as she crumbled to the ground he took off into the forest. Zuko watched the young woman, thinking about what he should do. He remembered something his Uncle used to tell him when he was younger. _'There are two types of bad people in this world; the ones that do bad things and the ones that see bad things but don't do anything about it.' _With that in his mind he quickly took off after the man.

Now here he was, back with the woman's money. He leapt down from the roof and landed in front of her on his hands and feet. When she noticed him he watched as she tensed and pressed herself against the wall, and shut her eyes and started whispering something under her breath; he assumed that she was praying. He stood and tossed the pouch where it landed at her feet. She opened her eyes and then looked down at the pouch then back at Zuko. "T-thank you," she whispered and with that Zuko ran out of the alley headed back to his uncle.

"_Yes, he was the greatest thief ever, but he also helped the ones that he know couldn't help themselves. It was because of this unique quality that he possessed was what attracted the Painted Lady to him."_

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Katara carefully glided against the water, using her bending to keep her from sinking. As she got to the village she leaped up onto the docks and silently made her way to the sick hut. When she entered she looked around at all the people in there; they were practically piled up on top of each other. She sat herself down at the first person on her right; she pulled the water out of his cup as it covered her hands in a bright bluish glow. Lowering her hands she began moving it across the man, slowly healing his wounds. After she was done she moved to the next one, and then the next one, and the next one, until she completely healed everyone in the little hut. After she finished she looked up and saw the sun starting to peek over the hills. She turned and ran out and dove into the water, returning to her friends.

"_Some say the Painted Lady was a Siren of the rivers that drew men to their deaths. Others say that she was just an illusion passed down by drunken men to drunken men. She was, however, none of these. She was a healer who traveled from village to village helping the sick and protecting the weak. She only came with the cover of night and left as the sun rose. She could see the good in everything no matter who they were. She was a gentle soul that loved everything and helped anyone who came to her, no matter their problem. _

_No one is sure how the two met. Some say that the Blue Spirit tried to rob the Painted Lady, others say that the Painted Lady found the Blue Spirit injured and healed him; whatever the reason, they found each other. Even after the departed they always were in each other's thoughts and hearts. It wasn't long before they fell in love with each other. They would run into the night just to see each other in secret, they were in true love. Not the one when you fall in love with the person's body, no, they fell in love with the person, because they never knew what the other really looked like. Yes, it is strange but they knew it was the best, for if anyone found out; they would use the other one against them."_

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The Blue Spirit ran across the building looking for something to do. Every since he met the Painted Lady his urge to steal and rob was diminished greatly, but he couldn't stop the little voice in his head telling him that the young man below him wouldn't mind if he took a few coins. He watched as the young man quickly walked down the street, and the Spirit followed, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, when finally the man walked right onto a deserted street. When he turned around to head back, the Blue Spirit jumped down and hid in the shadows. _'Wait for it, wait for…it…'_ once the man passed the Spirit he jumped out and placed his swords against his neck. The man let out a struggled gasp and dropped the bags he was carrying. "Give me your money."

"P-please, I don't have any. I spent it all on medical herbs for my sister. She's very sick."

'_Damn, all of this and I get nothing,'_ the Blue Spirit thought irritatedly.

'_**You can still check, for all we know he could be lying,'**_ the voice in his head stated back. The Blue Spirit, however, refused to listen to it; he hadn't ever since he fell for the Painted Lady. He pulled his swords away and pushed the young man to the ground, and then leapt into the air and disappeared. The man stayed on the floor, trying to catch his breath, when he heard rocks shifting behind him. He quickly turned to see nothing except for the shadows that littered the alley.

"So the Blue Spirit has gone soft. I knew this would happen." His breath caught in his throat as he slowly turned to see a young woman behind him. He knew in an instant who she was.

"B-b-blue…" She put a finger to his lips and smiled devilishly at him.

"Shhh… its okay." He watched as she pulled something from her belt. She raised it above them and he saw it glisten in the light of the street lamps. The last thing anyone heard was the horrific cry of a tortured soul into the night.

"No one lives after speaking my name. Let's see you run from this, Blue Spirit."

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"It was him, I saw it."

"He came out of sky, and then we found him."

"Look at the wounds…"

"They could only be made by swords."

"All his money was gone…"

"You know what this means…"

The Painted Lady walked into the healing hut following a woman who told her that someone desperately needed her help. She walked into the hut and all talking ceased. She knew who they were talking about but she refused to believe in herself until she examined the body. Everyone gathered around as she checked the body of its injuries.

"Can you save him, Painted Lady?" One of the villages asked her, she assumed that it was his mother, she let out a sigh. It was the one part of her job that she hated the most. She couldn't save everyone.

"No… I'm sorry, he's already dead." She laced her fingers on his eyelids and pulled them down closing his eyes. He was a young boy; they said he was walking home after buying food and medical herbs for his sister. It was a true shame that he had to die so young. She heard the mother weep beside her as many others in the village started too. She watched as men came and placed a sheet over him and guided the mother off to plan for his funeral.

She walked into the town square, when she was suddenly surrounded by an angry mob. They we shouted insults and profanities at her, her heart constricted with each word. Suddenly as the crowd came, it stopped and the mother walked though, she looked up at the Lady and bowed her head.

"Please excuse them, they're just upset, you have helped out greatly… but you swore to protect us, and you let the Blue Spirit kill my son."

"You don't know that he killed him." The Painted Lady said back, she knew he would never do that, but in the pit of her stomach she couldn't help but wonder if she was wrong.

"I saw him!" Someone shouted from the crowd.

"So did I!"

"There's your proof!!"

"No what are you going to do!" She watched as they started closing in on her. "We'll stop him!" Everyone stopped, and mulled this over. "If we get rid of the Blue Spirit then we wouldn't have anymore problems, and he can't possibly take us all on!"

"Yeah!!!" The crowd cheered, the Painted Lady watched in horror as the men gathered and grabbed all the weapons they could, she couldn't let them kill him. She couldn't. She bent her head and let her hat shadow her face.

"Enough!!" Everyone stopped and turn to her. "I will stop the Blue Spirit, put your weapons away, they aren't any use against him." With that said, she turned and walked away. She could hear the village talking to themselves. She didn't however see the mother, smiling as she walked away. It wasn't a smile of happiness, definitely not; it was an evil smile similar to the way one smiles when their plan is coming all together.

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She didn't want to hurt him, but she knew if she didn't stop him, then some else would. She wouldn't let anyone harm the one she loved.

Blue Spirit waited for the Painted Lady when suddenly the air was sliced by a needle. He quickly leapt out of the way as it embedded itself into the tree's trunk below him. He leaped down and drew his sword, as he heard three more pierce the air, he blocked them with his sword and shouted for the person attacking him to come and show their face. His heart stopped and his face fell when he saw it was the Painted Lady. _'Why is she doing this?'_ he thought. He took a step closer but another needle imbedded itself into the ground at his feet. She reached back under her cloak and pulled out four more needles, placing one in between each of her fingers and thumb and her right hand. He watched as she got into a fighting stance, the pain he once felt slowly burned away into hate for the woman he saw in front of him. He gave her his heart, the only thing he had claim on and she just threw back into his face. He quickly got into a fighting stance and raised his swords, glistening in the moonlight, the ends pointed at her waiting for her blood to gather upon it.

They stood facing each other waiting for the first strike to be made. The Painted Lady hid her tears well, behind the shadow of her hat, she wanted nothing more than to go back in time and prevent any of this from happening. She knew she couldn't and that she would have to face what the future threw at her no matter how much she wished she didn't. She slowly griped her needle, each a few inches long, thin enough so that they were almost invisible to the eye, but sharp enough to cut a blade of grass if it fell on it. They were her most deadly weapons, and with a flick of her wrist she could kill a person with just one of them; she aimed for the pressure points of the body, paralyzing them, then the needle delivers a deadly poison. It slowly and painlessly kills them within minutes. It had to be done no matter how much she wished it didn't. With that thought she threw two needles heading for his arm. The Blue Spirit waited and knocked the needles out of the way. With that they ran at each other; the battle began.

Into the night and day they fought both trying to bring the other down even for a few minutes. Needles and swords clashed, blood spilled and hearts broke until finally as the sun set on the second day, did it seem like they were slowing down. The Blue Spirit and Painted Lady stood across each other, both breathing hard, bruised and bloody. The Painted Lady shakily stood, holding her last three needles in her hand, as the Blue Spirit raised his sword, suddenly feeling like he was lifting lead swords, instead of his bronze ones.

The Painted Lady watched she knew he was slowly dying; he already had two needles implanted in him, one in his calf and the other in his arm. He knew he was dying, yet he still chose to fight. Even in the midst of all that happened she still let a little smile grace her face; he would always be the fighter that she loved.

She threw one of her needles, but before it could reach him he knocked it aside with his sword. He could feel his vision blurring, and his breath becoming labored. He had only one chance left. He watched as she began to pull back for another throw, and when the needle left her hand he lifted his sword and threw it at the needle, but he wasn't aiming at the needle. The sword passed the needle and landed in the Painted Lady, he watched as the needle flew straight into his chest, as did his sword in his Lady.

He watched her fall, along with all the dreams he had for the future. He could feel his body dying, as he watched the ground come closer until he was lying cheek to cheek with it. As he took his final breath he saw someone approaching him, he tried to lift his head to see but it felt like a ton of bricks were on top of it.

"Well, well, look what we have here? The mighty Blue Spirit is dead." He recognized the voice, but he couldn't think straight, the person kneeled down and turned his head so he could see them. "You know we were almost like family, but you just had to follow your heart."

"Blue …Dragon," He mumbled weakly. It was getting harder to breath and even harder to talk.

"Yes, my dear brother." She rolled him over onto his back so he was facing skyward. "I told you she would be the death of you. I'll miss you dear brother." She lied but he was too in-between the world of the living and the dead to understand. The last thing he saw was his 'sister' laughing at his death.

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"_The Blue Spirit and Painted Lady both died that day, but if you think they found each other after death you're wrong. You see when you die, bodily attachments fade away. So when the Painted Lady and Blue Spirit entered the Spirit world, they were just a man and a woman. They weren't the Painted Lady and the Blue Spirit anymore, and because of that they searched forever for each other but could never find each other. So they're life is reincarnated every lifetime…"_

Zuko ran though the woods, dressed in his Blue Spirit outfit, hurrying to get back at camp before the others woke up; he and his Uncle recently joined the Avatar and his friends, and he knew he had to get back before that blind earthbender realized he was gone.

"_To repeat the same mistakes until they..._

Katara ran back to camp; she got distracted on her way back by a group of thugs attacking a couple. People will find it strange that the Painted Lady is so far way from her village, but it was the only costume she had. She just hoped she could sneak back into camp before Toph realized she was gone.

_...found each other again and fixed the past."_

Zuko ran until he could see the yellow glow of the fire of the camp, but before he could move through there a figure emerged form the trees, a woman with a flowing cloak and hat covering her face, for some reason he felt he knew this person, but couldn't put his finger on it.

Katara was about to go into camp when she noticed a figure watching her from the trees, she could make out the figure of a man and blue ogre mask looking back at her. But she didn't attack, something in the pit of her stomach told her she knew this person, and she was connected to them some how.

And it was there that they both spoke the question that was on both their mind.

"Do I know you?"

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** The end. I hoped you liked. Review. Thanks Bye**


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